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Roasted Olives with Garlic, Rosemary, and Lemon Zest

Oven-roasted Kalamata olives with lemon and rosemary

Olives are my favourite quick snack with evening drinks. The pantry always has tinned olives stuffed with anchovies or garlic, but warming Kalamatas with lemon, garlic and rosemary lifts them into something special. The mixture stores beautifully in the fridge, ready for friends, family and a favourite bottle at short notice.

Kalamata olives traditionally pair with the wines of their Mediterranean home — Spanish Rioja, Tempranillo, Syrah and crisp whites. The brine cuts through tannin, while the lemon and rosemary echo the herbal lift in reds from these warm regions.

Oven Roasted Kalamata Olives

A weeknight standby in our house, and the kind of dish that makes drop-in guests feel properly entertained.

Recipe Overview

Ingredients

  • 500g Kalamata olives in brine (Sandhurst or Delmaine Jumbo Kalamata both work well)
  • 1 lemon
  • 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
  • 5–7cm stem of rosemary (or a few stalks adding up to the same)
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

Method

  1. Preheat: Heat the oven to 220°C.
  2. Drain: Drain the olives and tip into a bowl.
  3. Peel: Use a potato peeler to remove wide strips of lemon peel, avoiding the white pith. Add to the olives.
  4. Juice: Halve the lemon and squeeze the juice into the bowl.
  5. Bash: Give the unpeeled garlic cloves a firm bash to bruise, then add with the roughly chopped rosemary and peppercorns.
  6. Roast: Mix everything with the olive oil, transfer to a small roasting dish, and bake for 15 minutes, stirring every 7 minutes or so. The olives should look slightly wrinkled.
  7. Store: Chill, then keep in an airtight container in the fridge.

Wine pairing: Lealtanza Dominio de Heredia Rioja — serve at 16–18°C. The Tempranillo's savoury depth and gentle oak meet the brine and citrus head-on, the way Spanish tapas bars have done it for generations.

Shop Lealtanza Rioja

Laura's Tips

Technique

High heat (220°C) is non-negotiable here — it gives the olives that slightly wrinkled, concentrated finish without turning them mushy. Stirring every 7 minutes keeps the lemon peel from catching.

Ingredient Notes

Sandhurst Kalamata or Delmaine Jumbo Kalamata are both readily available in NZ supermarkets and roast beautifully. Stick with stone-in olives where you can — they hold their shape and the pit adds a little richness during roasting.

Make Ahead

Make a double batch. They keep up to two weeks in the fridge and improve after a day as the flavours settle. Pull them out 20 minutes before serving to take the chill off.

Other wines that work

This recipe is inspired by my time at CRAFT restaurant in Grey Lynn, Auckland in the 00s — a modern NZ tapas spot with Iberian influence, chef Pip Wylie at the helm, and live jazz running late into the evenings. The original had a heartier mix of spices; this is the version we keep on rotation at home.

Browse the full wine collection or contact Laura for a recommendation.